Push button switch



March 1956 H. c. KRYDER 2,740,023

PUSH BUTTON SWITCH Filed May 2, 1952 INVENTOR. HAROLD C. KRYDER BY ATTORNEY United States Patent" 2,740g02av FUSH'BU'ITON'SWITCH Harold C. Kryder,jFreeport, Ill., assignor'tolvlinneapolis Honeywell. Regulator Gompziny, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Delaware Application May-2,1952, Serial No. zssit/rs 6; Glaims. (l.-:.200--168):

This invention is directed to a. push. button switch suitable for panel'mountingand particularly for applications: requiring a fluid tight seal between the. rrenrart apariei and'the mechanism behind the panel.

An object of the invention 'is toprovidefaf push button switch adapted for single hole mounting inr'which the:

Figure 1 is an elevation-showing a. push buttonsu itch in assembled condition,

Figure Zis a sectional elevation takengenerally online 2+2 afrigure 1,. p T

Figure 3 is a section taken on line. or 2, Figure 4' is a planv view. of the switch andxbracket as.--

sembly separated fiomthe mounting member; and.

Figure 5 is afragmentary. view showing asteprimthe assembly or disassembly operation. I

A mounting member generally indicated? 112,1 0v includes an enlarged portion 11 which, has a surface. lg-adapted; to engage the outer su'rfaceoi apanel or the dike 114 A reduced portion 15 extends through the panel: and, l-SfQX: ter'nally threaded so that a. nut 16 and, lock washer 1157 may be tightened against the rear surface of theipan elto secure the mounting member in; place. An 'qai' ing 19 carried in an annular groove in. the portion. 11, engages.

the panel to eifecta fluidtight seal betweemthe panel an'df the member 10. The inner end of the;moun.ting.member, 10, shown lying below. thepanel 14 inFigiireZ -is fQrmed; to provide a neck portion21 and a flange shapediboss22t Both the boss '22 and the neck portion 21 are=generallw circular in shape. and coaxial with the. threaded portion 15 but the circular configuration is modifiedby-i-emmzal of a. segment to provide a flat surface 23 as. shown in; Figure 3. The boss and neck portion serve: to support and locate the. switch as will be apparentbelow.

The mountingmember- 10. is-axially bored to; carry an; actuator 25 which includes abutton, 26.: and, a rod: 27.. The button 26 lies partially within alarge bore. within, the enlarged outer portion 11- of the mounting, member and hasa surface 28 whichisparallel to buttseparated... from asu'rface 30 of the mounting memherll'! normal to. the axis of the hole. A stop member 29, 'is dispo'fsiiclv ihtermediatc the button. 26 and rod 27 andis adapted. to

engage the surface 30 to limit inward movement offthe actuator 25. A ring 32 of closedcell' spongarubaer a;

other elasmmeris ememed or otherwise saiiatslyattac ed to the surface 28 or the button 26; The other" gene'r plane surface of the ring 32 is similarly attached'to the 3:22am. b eflin der slight compression.

ice

suif'e'lihof 'tlie mounting' 'member 10. The sponge rubber. isiof suificient axial thickness so that force I iially'on. the button 26 may be efiective to the riiig "and; permit. sufiicient. axial movement V 2 o'actuate the, switch; The. portion of the mouhtingmernlierl radially beyond the bore acts as a protective rim forj b oth the button26 and the sponge rubbe'r. ring32v aslweuas. providing an external surface en'- "bl'e. by" at vi -tench, Ring. 32 radially fills the bore yprweiaagenny of foreign matter beyond the ltiwer. e'd'geJdfYbiItton 26. The innerend of the rod 27 is-"g'rdoved toaccommodat'e a snap ring 34which acts as. asmp. in.coopeiationwithftheinner end of the mounting member 10 tOJiinitQoutward movement of the actuator 25. The min proportioned that. when the ring 34 is infengagementwith the member 1 0 the sponge rubber Thus, the ce.-

nieiit'used in attaching thesponge rubber ring 32 to the button 2fifahdlto thesurface 30 of the member 10 maybe appiieato' surfaces of. these. parts, the actuator 25 as- I se'iribledltothe'niember 10fwith. the ring 32in place and.

theisto pj. rin'g. 34 applied to the rod27 and the cement suitably. diied without the necessity for providing any other. clamping force during the drying operation.

"Aibracket37 hasan angular extension 38 which is sup- '10 by engagement of a portion; thereof with" the boss 22 and the. neck. portion 21 in a manner to be described below, The bracket 37 carries amelectric'jswitch lil having an actuating button" 41. The switch' lll is oif. the type disclosed in the application of WilbertAQMartin, Serial No, 209,123, filed February Z, 1951,,f3iiditsihtrhal construction therefore will not be desc'ri switch 40 isprovided with an operator nclildesa resilient strip 45a overlying the but i-W t ton"41.. strip 43;: is adapted. to be engaged by; the

inner and of'the rodz 27l whenthebu'tton 26 is depressed,

the operator 43. minim/actuating the button 41 of the to the member 10 by placing the opening- 45 over the bass/22mm; the-straight portion. 45b of the opening in eag gementjwnhjthe Segmented portion 23- of. the boss 22. 'Iihisvpo'sition. is shown.- in Figure 5. The bracket 37 is their slidto the right so that the. bracket extension 3. lies between the inner surface ofthe reducedqportion 15 and'byfthe boss22 softhattheportion of the bracket eit'eli sion adjacent [the radius 450 of opening 45 embraces the'neck perso a-1.. The axiallength of the neck-portion 21. i'sf'neces's'arilyslightly greater than the thickness of v the bracket "extension 38.. To assure a rigid assembly,

an, ear 38d,foriginally bent slightly upwardly from the breaker. ex ion. 38, is depressed by assembly of the bracket on/the; mounting rhember so that the bracket 37'i's 'firinly. attached tothe. member 10. To'prevent retiir' to; thep'osition shown inFigure Saresilient' strip is shaped tolie along 47 is seardjo the bracket 31 i and. the'ihrir siirfac'evofi the bracketextension- 38. Thestrip ening"48 theiein. adapted toireceivethe boss is r ov1dedfwith.a pairof shoulders 50 adapted to engage. e, segmentedsurface 23. Whenthe bracket 37 I I is assembled. in operativefposition engagement. of the surrace 2311);; the-"shoulders 5026f the resilient strip, 47. ptev' ts lateial displacement or the bracket 37. The re'si rents 1 47 is provided-wan a manuall depressible ear- 37a by*whieu thes np. can be bent. to the position 'shbwn ind ighre '5 which will permit retrieval of the bracket 37 from the mounting member 10. When the strip 47 is so depressed the bracket 37 may be again displaced laterally to the position shown in Figure 5, whereupon the bracket may be separated from the member by axial displacement. In order to employ the sealing means including the sponge rubber ring 32 most efiectively it. is so disposed in the assembly that the force applied to actuate the switch exerts only compressive forces on the cemented joints between the ring and the mounting member and between the ring and the button 26. Such construction assures the permanence of the fluid tight seal between these members. Such construction dictates that the enlarged portion 11 of the mounting member be located on the front surface ofthe panel and the nut16 is therefore neces-' sarily disposed on the rear surface of the panel. Since the switch 40 is larger than the threaded portion it is not possible to permanently attach the switch to the inner portion of the mounting member 10. The disclosed means of releasably attaching the bracket 37 to the mem-' ber It enables such operation to be performed without the use of any tools whatever, and has the advantage over 1 a threaded connection in that the switch is locked against rotation with respect to the mounting member; The use of a closed cell sponge elastomer sealing ring provides sufiicient resilience since it is volumetrically compressible and only a minimum of lateral displacement thereof accompanies axial displacement. Since' the elastomer is of the closed cell type it is impervious to the passage of fluid and effectively seals the joint between the actuator and the mounting member. It'is appreciated that a diaphragm could be used to efiect the same purpose but it would be considerably more difficult to suitably attach both the mounting member and the actuator and would be much less rugged. In addition the dis closed construction permits entry of onlya thin film of. water between the button and the bore of enlarged portion 11 of the mounting member 10. If thiswater film should freeze it is possible to operate the switch by.

applying sulficient force to break the film.

When the switch is to be subjected to a wide range of temperatures and must remain operative throughout that range, the elastomer used to form the ring 32 inay suitably be a silicone which will remain elastic at very low temperatures. In applications where the switch must be pressure tight only at low values of pressure, instead of cementing the ring 32 to the surface 28 of the button 26 and to the surface 30 it may effectively be attached thereto by interposed layers of silicone grease. This modification has the advantage that even if .veryhigh pressure is applied, which might break a cemented joint, the silicone grease will reseal itself when the pressure is relieved and an eifective seal'will again be afforded.

I claim as my invention: 7 i

1. In a push button switch, a mounting member comprising, an outer abutment portion adapted to engage an outer surface of a panel or the like, a reduced portion adapted to extend through the panel, and a boss separated from said reduced portion by a necked portion, the inner.

end of said reduced portion and said boss having opposing surfaces separated by the length of saidnecked portion,

said mounting member having a bore extending through said abutment portion, said reduced portion, said necked portion, and said boss, an actuator comprising a button overlying a part of the abutment portion of said member, a rod extending through the bore of said member and stop means on said rod adapted to engage said boss to limit outward movement of said actuator, a ring of closed cell sponge elastomer effectively attached'to said button and to said member to prevent passage of fluid between said member and said actuator and to bias said actuator outwardly to the limit established by said'stop means,.a

switch having an operator engageable by the inner .end of said rod, a bracket supporting said switch, said bracket having an extension received between the opposing Sill? sponge faces a said has and the 4 l inner end of the reduced portion'of said member and embracing'said necked portion, said extension being slidable laterally with respect to said boss and said necked portion to the extent necessary to permit longitudinal separation of said bracket extension from said boss, and a resilient strip secured to said bracket and normally lying along the inner surface of said extension and engaging an edge of said boss to prevent such'lateral displacement, said strip being bendable away from said bracket extension to disengage said boss to permit disasseinbly ofv said bracket from said member. 2. In a push buttonswitch, a member having an inner portion and a boss separated from said inner portion by a necked portion, said boss and said inner portion having opposing surfaces separated by the length of said necked portion, an actuating rod extending through the inner portion of said member and through said necked portion and said boss, a switch having an operator engageable by the innerend of said rod, a bracket supporting said switch and having an extension received between the opposing surfaces of said boss andthe inner portion of said member and embracing said necked portion, said cx terision beingslidable laterally with respect to said boss and said necked portion to the extent necessary to vent jsuch lateral displacement thereof, said strip being bendable away from said bracket extension to disengage saidbosslto permit disassembly of said bracket from said" member. 7

5 3, "In a push button switch, a mounting member having 'an i'nne'r portionand a bqss separated from said inner portion by, a necked portion of generally annular configuration, fsaid bossand said inner portion having opposing surfacesseparated by the length of said necked portion, and said boss having a portion of its lateral surface which is non-circular with respect to the axis of said necked portion, an actuating rod extending through the innerportion of said member and through said necked portion and said boss, 2. switch having anjoperator engageable by the inner end of said rod, a bracket supporting said switch and having an extension received between the opposing surfaces of said boss and the inner 7 portion ofsaid member and embracing said neck portion, said-extension being slidable laterally with respect to said boss and said'neck portion to the extent necessary to per mit'longi'tudinal separation of said bracket extension from said boss, and aresilient'strip secured to said bracket and normally lying along the inner surface of said extension and having'an edge of a configuration adaptedto engagethe non-circular lateral surface portion of said boss to prevent both rotary and lateral displacement of said bracket'with respect to said mounting member, said strip beingbendable away from said bracket extension to disengage said boss to permit disassembly of said bracket from said members I '4. A push button actuator comprising, a mounting member having a portion adapted to engage the outer surface of a panel or the like and a portion adapted to extend through the panel, said surface engaging portion having a groove'therein carrying an O-ringof rubberlike material adapted to engage the panel surface to form apressure seal between said member and the panel, an actuating member including a rod extending through said mounting member and a buttonoverlying part of the outer portion of said mounting member, and a ring of impervious resilient volumetrically compressible material surpansion thereof on inward movement of said actuating 5. A push button actuator comprising, a mounting member having a portion adapted to engage the outer surface of a panel or the like and a portion adapted to extend through the panel, said surface engaging portion having a groove therein carrying an O-ring of rubberlike material adapted to engage the panel surface to form a pressure seal between said member and the panel, an actuating member including a rod extending through said member and a button overlying a surface of said mounting member, said button and said member having opposed parallel surfaces, and a ring having a substantially rectangular section and made of impervious resilient volumetrically compressible material surrounding said rod and having opposed parallel surfaces effectively attached to the parallel surfaces of said button and said member.

6. A push button actuator comprising, a member having a bore therethrough and a counterbore, an actuator including a rod extending through said bore and a button disposed in the counterbore, and an impervious elastomer ring surrounding said rod but spaced radially therefrom and having opposed axially spaced surfaces engaging said button and said member and a cylindrical lateral surface engaging the lateral surface of the counter bore in said member adjacent said button.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,223 Chayne et al Mar. 12, 1940 2,237,055 Little Apr. 1, 1941 2,267,364 Blount Dec. 23, 1941 2,337,809 Gaynor Dec. 28, 1943 2,568,933 Robbins Sept. 25, 1951 

